A new outbreak of the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes has once again affected the European food industry, specifically in Denmark and Italy, with almost 100 people affected and four deaths.
This bacterium already set off alarm bells in Spain in 2019, the year before the pandemic, due to the consumption of undercooked larded meat that affected more than 200 people.
The bacterium is of concern not only because it is one of the main food-borne diseases, but also because of its serious impact on the population, especially on immunocompromised or elderly people, pregnant women and young children, even leading to fatal consequences.
Roser stresses the importance of hygiene during admission and inside the facilities, as it is a bacterium that is difficult to control due to its characteristics; it is resistant to high temperatures and is even capable of resisting surfaces disinfected with routine cleaning detergents. For this reason, establishing hygiene stations at entrances and between areas to avoid cross-contamination and maintaining good hygiene and disinfection of utensils are ideal to avoid its appearance and spread within our facilities.
In the same way as when we cook at home, we take certain measures; we maintain good hand hygiene, we disinfect the areas in contact with food during preparation, we periodically clean the storage areas and we cook the food correctly. In our companies, we must establish protocols to achieve these objectives on an industrial scale, so that our families and fellow human beings can enjoy our products in their homes in complete safety.